Palgrave United Community Kitchen’s Buckstown Cafe returns to serve community

By KATHRYN FRASER

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Palgrave United Community Kitchen (PUCK) is once again hosting the Buckstown Café throughout August to September. 

This drop in event is catered towards seniors living in the Palgrave community that are looking to get more involved in the community and step out of their comfort zone and meet new people. 

The Buckstown Café is an open and welcoming space where seniors can sit, play games, enjoy refreshments and chat. 

Kathryn Walden and Maureen Ramsay are the organizers of the events. They have watched as it has slowly grown over the past few months and is excited to see that there are regular guests that drop in and see each other when the Buckstown Café is open. 

The café is partially funded by another New Horizons Grant with the goal to bring more seniors together in a communal space. 

An additional element that Kathryn and Maureen have added is having a speaker come and talk to the participants about several topics, such as forest and nature meditation, as well as the importance of cyber security and how to be more aware of dangerous scams. 

In the beginning there were not many programs that were initially geared towards seniors. 

Starting in 2020, the organization started to hold Nordic walks with the funding from their Seniors grant. What once started as a small one a week group activity has now grown into a twice a week program that is offered. 

Other events that are offered include a variety of workshops from cooking to bird house painting to wreath making and are available for all. 

Eco Caledon has become one of many partners with PUCK and support them in many of their events. 

They run many different programs, including the café and the cooking club events. 

One popular program is the preserving workshops, which left many participants asking for more.

“It's a variation of cooking and health and wellness that we offer”, says Walden. 

Adds Ramsay: “Everyone is welcome, you don't have to say anything there is no expectations. Just come and enjoy a snack and coffee or tea and see what's going on. Participate as much as you want. It's all about connecting with community, coming out and meeting new people, enjoying conversation and games and just having fun.” 

Both Walden and Ramsay are hopeful to continue the Buckstown café and look forward as well to their upcoming and reoccurring events.